The Australian fended off Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, who started the race from pit lane, to secure the win.
“It feels as good as the first win, it really does,” the Red Bull driver said.
It was a breathtaking last 10 laps, which featured a three-way battle for the lead between Alonso, Hamilton and Ricciardo.
They all had different battle plans for the rain-soaked race, and all had the lead at some stage, but Ricciardo’s came up trumps.
“The safety car at first played to our advantage but the second one didn’t really help us, but we got there in the end and I had to do the overtaking at the end which was fun.”
With double points on offer at November’s Abu Dhabi season-finale, when 50 are available to the race winner, the man who replaced Mark Webber isn’t ruling out a maiden title.
“I am aware that today I closed the gap, but there is still a long way to go,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports.
He is the only non-Mercedes driver to have won a race in 2014, having also won in Canada.
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